novamade

inertia

Now that Little Sir's party is over, and the thank yous done, I feel at a loss for a "big project."  So obviously I thought, "well, let's get back to the knitting."  It seemed like a good idea; and then I pulled out all of my projects, all of my knitting "in progress", which really isn't in progress at all.  Yes, knitting at rest stays at rest.

Inert.

I was really excited about these mittens until I wasn't.  Mitten knitting mojo gone, poof.

Stagnant.

Remember this?  I was going to finish it and wear it on snowy days...  Well, not so much.  Monogamous knitting, indeed.

Dormant.

This was supposed to be a quick knit.  I was supposed to give it to a baby when I went to California (3 weeks ago!).  I just lost interest.  Knitted toys?  Ho-hum.

Incomplete.

I started this sock in California and have worked on it here and there, but not in the excited way I thought I would attack these socks with the STR yarn.  Sock knitting mojo, where art thou? 

Unfinished.

Unifinished is totally inaccurate, this project is barely begun.  That is the start of a baby sweater, can't you tell?!

So inert it was forgotten.

I started this blanket/shawl thing two weeks before Little Sir's due date.  I would have finished it, had I not been surprised by the necessity of a C-section due to the bigness of Little Sir.  It got buried under piles of unfinished knitting and new yarn aquisitions.  I honestly forgot about it.

I think that I might have gotten blue-d and white-d out during the first cycle of Project Spectrum.  I had good intentions (in hindsight, I would say "unreasonable," there, I said it); but clearly, I need to mix things up a bit.  The fact that there is so much green and a little yellow to work on in my inert knitting pile for the next cycle does not completely comfort me either.  I think I need more color in my life.  I need to think outside the box of my own comfort zone and even the parameters of Project Spectrum (which I joined because I wanted the challenge of working with and exploring more colors). 

When it comes to color, I am not the most exciting or daring person.  I see colorful things on others and I usually think, "oh, that is all well and good for him/her, but no, just give me my plain old monchromatics, lets focus on the browns, greys and blacks please."  Should I want to be daring, I will throw in a little red (with a hint of burgandy or a tad bit of maroon, if you please).  As you can imagine my wardrobe isn't exactly an ambassodor for Roy G. Biv. 

And then I saw this and this and these.  But this one won me over completely.  So then I went here and bought this and this and this, oh and this too.  And all of a sudden, I am excited about the knitting again, even the unfinished stuff waiting in piles.  Oh what a little color can do (and charging your card for Koigu purchases, same difference).

Besides talking about color and my new found love for it, I also wanted to say thanks.  Thanks for sharing bits and bobs of your childhoods (or the childhoods of others).  I enjoyed reading the birthday memories.  Birthdays are big in my book (anniversaries too!) and I think it's important to celebrate them.  Thanks for celebrating Little Sir's with me!

one

So we celebrated Little Sir's first birthday over the weekend.

 

It was a really special celebration (birthday's usually are), because we decided to honor Little Sir's Korean and American heritage.  He won't remember any of it, but I think it was an important thing to do (for us; and, really it made my mother happy and who is going to argue with that?).

I learned that I am truly my mother's daughter in planning this event.  There was really no such thing as "simple."  The first birthday celebration in Korean culture is called a Tol.  You can read more about it here, if interested.  I think we went a little overboard, it was fun though.

There was a great deal of food (and I didn't prepare any of it!).  My mom is kind of a rockstar, truly (even if she is a little nuts sometimes).  Hey, did you notice the rug hooked flags in the background?  My mom made them around 30 years ago.  Shortly after she married my dad and came to the U.S.  And she knits too!

As much as Little Sir enjoyed wearing his traditional Hanbok, he was clearly more interested in changing so he could play (it was a little big for him).

There were a lot of firsts for Little Sir.  Firstly, he has never looked so preppy or college bound in his life.  Also, I don't think he had ever seen fire (okay, a flame) before his birthday.  He was kind of nervous about it.  It was also the first time he had cake of any sort.

He really enjoyed the chocolate.

There are more pictures of this most auspicious of days here.

And because his thumbs were working, he was able to pull some names of people who celebrated his birthday with us in the blogosphere. Little Big Sir drew the following names:

Megan who blogs at The Knitting Philistine

Felicia of Fluffy Flowers

Heidi of Step Into My Thimble

Brenda at Molecular Knitting

Please e-mail me with your addresses I can get you your goods, or your "presents."

Thanks for partying with us! 

k.i.s.s.

When I was in high school I had a teacher who liked to say, "when writing you have to keep it simple stupid."  She didn't say this to me personally, it was something she just said because she would get these expository pieces that could have served as doctorate dissertations (and she would know, having taught at a University--the high school gig was during her retirement from teaching at a University for a few decades, dedicated to education that one).  In any case, I was reminded of keeping things simple (or this KISS method of doing things) when I was trying to figure out a good portable knitting project for my trip last week.  You know, something I could pull out and work on without too much thought.  Somthing that I didn't have to constantly refer to a pattern for, that sort of thing.  So while packing my bags I threw in a ball of Trekking that had been sitting in the stash forever and figured, "oh, I can knit some simple stockinette socks if I have time..."

When one is flying coast to coast with delays at JFK because the airport has run out of de-icing fluid for the runway, etc., there is plenty of free time.  I will try to avoid waxing poetic on the simple stockinette sock, as it's been covered well before by others.  But I will say, there is a lot to be said about letting variegated yarn do the work for you (but I won't go there either, you all know the deal).   So yes, basic socks,pretty much following a pattern for simple lightweight socks.  I like the finished product.

They aren't for me (shocker), I intended them as a gift (Christmas in March!) at the start (I also started a pair with the blue STR that will be for me...when I finish them).   I think they are a good pair of colorful socks that are a little crazy and fun.  I like the color variegation, and I like that there were some black strands plied in with the crazy bright colors to give the colorway a little more depth.  I hope my friend likes them, I think she will.

Stockinette Socks

Pattern: Beginner's Lightweight Socks by Knitting Pure and Simple

Yarn: Trekking XXL, Colorway 100

Needles: Bamboo DPNs, US1 and Us2

Modifications: Used US1 needles for the ribbed cuff instead of US2s throughout

Again, I liked the finished product, the socks really took very little time to do (in the grand scheme of things).  I had hours of travel time which afforded me many opportunites to knit the socks and I used a pattern that I am very familiar with, it was just easy and handy.  And while I liked the finished socks, I have to say, I don't think I am the biggest fan of Trekking.  Great colors and all that, but after working with other sock yarns, I find that Trekking is a little wimpy (I mean really, I was able to simply snap the yarn after finishing the first sock to start the second--scissors weren't handy, you know, flying and all).  I am a curious about the wear of these socks.  I could have easily gone down a needle size and knit these on 1s, I think; but, I wonder if it will have mattered at all (I am actually a pretty tight knitter).  This skein was the only Trekking I had in the stash and I think it unlikely that I will purchase more.  I am glad I tried it out though.

What do think?  Have you knit a pair of socks out of Trekking?  How have they held up?

Thanks for all of your childhood birthday memories, I love reading about your birthday happiness...if you haven't dropped a comment for the "it's not a contest" give-away, please do.  I am really enjoying the stories (and yes Nicole, Canadian (all!) knitters are welcome to comment and will be entered as well!).  And no Kathy, you can not have my kid, you'll have to get your own.

give me some of that good stuff

So things are a flurry around these parts.  Little Sir's first birthday is at the end of the week.  He is clearly overwhelmed with happiness about the event.

My mother flew in last night to help with the preparations (more on that later) and her presence has brought a whole new level of chaos into my life.  In any case, birthdays are a big deal for me (mostly because they were a big deal with my mom when I was a kid--thanks mom!) so since it's his first birthday, Little Sir and I thought it would be fun to have a giveaway so that you all can celebrate too.  What do you think?  Because it's a celebration and I am not capable of coming up with a creative contest in my current state of chaos, we're giving it away.  What are we giving away?  I would imagine most here would be best served by receiving yarn, so that’s what’s doing.  So here's what Little Sir thought would be fun to share during this time of celebration:

Are you in the bootie making mood?  Know of someone having a girl who is destined to be a fashionista?  Nothing says high fashion like fuchsia (magenta, whatever)...  How about this?

Or maybe you are more of a traditionalist?  White and yellow more your thing?  More booties, more hats, more randomness? How about some of this Lanett Superwash merino, super soft made just for the babies...  Two skeins, tons of yardage.

Or maybe you are in the mood for something lacy?  Definitely not for the kiddies this...  How about a skein of this marvy "Kid" Seta (get is "kid" Little Sir is a kid...yeah, never mind).

 

You might need to go here (color 831) for a more accurate color match of this amethyst yarn.  I don't usually love purple; but, this purple I lurve.

Or maybe you need some calm in your life?  I try to find the calm in life when I can, it's not usually there for me (I am after all a mom now), but I look for it.  Here is to another calm year of motherhood, heh…

So that's what we've got to give. Dang good stuff*, no? What do you have to do to get it?  Easy peasy, share your happiest childhood birthday memory (or, you know, someone else's--it just has to be a happy birthday memory from childhood).  Pop it in the comments by Friday 11:59 p.m. (or 2359 for those so inclined) EST and Little Sir will draw some names on his birthday, if his thumbs are working (if he isn’t up to the task, I will find some other kid to do it).  In your comment, list your preference of the four yarn choices listed above (or write none if you simply want to share) and we will see what kind of birthday magic we can work out.

Happy reminiscing!

*first to identify the title reference will get his or her name added to the pool twice and maybe something else, just for being kicky.

and i'm back

Thank you all for your time-away well wishes, they were much appreciated and all that well-wishing must have worked because the family de la archivist had a fabulous time.  It was really sunny and warm, and though I don't love the whole overly hot thing, I had a big appreciation for the weather on the left coast after our flight home was delayed due to ice on the New York runways and trying to dig out our car from the snow and ice (nothing says "welcome back to New England" like defrosting your car in 7 degree weather!).  And although I was rather ambitious in the (5...yeah, I know) knitting projects I took with me, it should take no genius on anyone's part to figure out that I didn't spend my whole time away knitting.  While I didn't get a ton of knitting done, I did do some other fun things, like...

I learned that Little Sir is afraid of grass (you know, the kind that is grown in lawns and parks...you know, the legal kind with no medicinal purposes whatsoever).  I tried Pat.  We thought he would have so much fun...no...no.  He won't even touch the stuff.  And it's pretty sad that his parents kept trying to get him to experience the fun that is crawling and rolling around in the grass purely because of his averse reaction to it, seriously people it was funny if not a bit cruel...(and the winners for parents of the year are....).

Although he was not a lover of flora and greenery in general, he was quite a fan of the animals that ate them... like giraffes.  We loved the San Diego Zoo (thanks Parikha for the snack insight, very handy).  And really, who doesn't love a giraffe or two?  I think giraffes might be my new favorite animal.

I was able to make some yarn acquisitions from here and here, both are fantastic places and they are literally down the street from each other.  I am very happy about my purchases.

No really, look how happy I am, even Little Sir got excited about the yarny bits of our trip.

While in San Diego I was able to meet up with a knit blogger.  And while I was excited to meet Theresa who blogs at Knitting Underway, clearly our socks were also ecstatic about the meet-up.

It was fun to meet someone from the knit blogging community.  She was even nicer than I imagined her to be based on her blog.  And I got to see her bright and sparkly ring up close and personal, and she got to see Little Sir up close and personal...who’s to say who got the better deal?!

While in San Diego , I was also able to meet up with my best friend from college.  She happened to be at a house that was a 15 minute bike ride from the Zoo.  The reason we were able to meet was because she did a weekly check of my blog and saw that I was coming to southern CA (yet another reason to love the whole blog thing).  While you might think this wasn't so serendipitous, let me correct you.  She is something of a wandering spirit (who does not knit, the travesty!).  I thought she was in Thailand or Arizona (I know, big difference, just work with me) ...not so much...

On Part 2 (sort of) of our trip we visited Fallbrook, apparently Tori Spelling and her baby's daddy (I have no idea what his name is--ah, Dean...that's right...) just opened a B&B there--in case you are interested. We were there because we have family there and look at the view they get to see every sunset and sunrise.

I get to see street and my neighbor's pick up...

There was a park in Bakersfield , CA (part 3 of our California adventure) that has bark on the playground instead of grass.  Little Sir likes bark, it’s much better than grass.  Apparently bark is the new cool, who knew?

As much as he loved the bark, Little Sir loved the swings and slides most.  I had some great swing shots, but I thought this picture from the slide captures the joy of childhood (well, at least my kid's childhood) perfectly.

And as much as I enjoyed my much needed time away, I think Little Sir enjoyed it more, he was kind of sad for it all to end.

I will have some more evidence of knitting done on the trip to post in the coming days, but there will be a lot of posting fun this week.  There's a big celebration happening at the end of the week and I hope all of you take part in it.  There will be crazy posts and some fun give away action going on (no contests here, life is a big enough contest as far as I am concerned).  And hey, spring, it's just around the corner!

reasons to get away

This week has been a busy one.  I haven't really taken any time to examine the bright spots of my week; but, after receiving a nice little package from Elli, I realized that my week wasn't as bad as I thought it was.  Thanks Elli for brightening up my week with the great package!

Next week is Spring Break at my esteemed institution, thus offering a perfect opportunity to get away for a while.  I am not sure if there is a stock set of good reasons to go on a vacation, but here are some reasons why I feel the need get away for a bit.

This is what my readers and researchers table looks like.  It's supposed to be immaculate, a blank slate even.  I have six different projects going on right now (with more awaiting processing, see those boxes in the back?).  I won't even show you my desk, it's just too ridiculous.

I need some time to turn this

into this.  Thanks to Little Sir for the background artwork, he goes crazy for the paints.

and this

into this.

I would also like to allow Little Sir some time outside.  Clearly, he is onboard with this idea.

When I took this picture this morning, it was 7 degrees (F) outside.  In southern California it's a balmy 90 degrees.  Normally, I am not one for hot weather, but now that Little Sir is mobile (he started crawling last Saturday, very exciting times) he is getting stir-crazy.

Also, I think he might like to go here and here.

A very good friend of mine once noted that any traveling plans that involved family was not actually a vacation. So I am not going on vacation, I am simply getting away for a while.  We are going to spend a week with Special K's family doing things that people do when they have no responsibilites to worry about.  It will be a fun week, I am especially looking forward to Little Sir handling the time change to Pacific time on top of losing an hour.  Hopefully, I will be back with some finished projects; or, at the very least, some fun pictures... And for those that e-mailed thoughts to Kathy, thank you!

in the interest of education

I have no FOs to offer today, nor do I have any interesting progress shots because all three of my current projects are sitting in states of uninterestingness, I might have another stuffed toy to offer for your viewing pleasure soon (because that is, apparently, what I'm about these days), but during the waiting, can I ask a favor?  A friend of mine, let's call her Kathy (mostly because that is her name) is completing an ethnography course and because I have won her over by spreading the gospel of knit, she needed a way to knit and do research for her project while working full time. 

She is conducting a study of the purpose/role of knitting/crocheting groups.  It touches on a past post of mine, but she has specific questions for knitters and crocheters, particularly if you are a group knitter.

If you have a moment, could you please send your answers to her at bigblueice@yahoo.com, or you could post to comments here if you have an interest in public discourse, Kathy would be most grateful and I know how knitters like to help each other.

IF YOU ARE A GROUP KNITTER

1) If you knit with a group, what do you think draws the members to attend, why do you attend?

2) Does your knitting group serve as a surrogate family for you or other members?  This is a common occurence in large urban areas where people are far from "home."

3) Do you think there is still a sort of small stigma attached to knitting in public? Does your knitting group meet in a public place or someone's home? 

4) Do you knit in a group because it offers some satisfaction to teach/share knowledge, or do you primarily enjoy access to help with your knitting?

5) Does knitting serve as your only opportunity to have quality time for yourself (a chance to escape the requirements of work/household requirements of your time)?

IF YOU KNIT ALONE

1) Why? There is something to be said for alone time and knitting on your own schedule. Do you prefer to concentrate on your own projects? Maybe to reduce mistakes? 

2) Is life too busy with work, school, taking care of
kid?  Do you have to snatch knitting time when you can and just can't make the commitment to a knitting group?

She'd love to hear (or really, read) your thoughts, so please share them. 

Thanks guys, you're peaches one and all!

foo foo

I needed a quick knitted something for a friend's baby shower.  I was originally thinking a toy and after some thought, I decided on a bunny.  I am not sure if it's because there are Easter bunny displays everwhere or if the white yarn I had to work with spurred me on, but knit a bunny I did.

He's actually a reading bunny...

I was going for a homey, almost country style knitted toy.  My friend is from Possum Trot, KY (no, I am totally serious), I thought she would appreciate that extra effort.

Bunny

Pattern: Bunny from Jess Hutch

Yarn: Peru Alpaca Luxury Chunky

Needles: Bamboo dpn's, US 10.5

Modifications: Subbed chunky yarn and appropriate needles, and I added a tail.

Time involved: 5 minutes! -- actually, just a few hours, it really took no time at all.